Story+1985-06-29+Paris,+France

“Bonjour (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Born in the U.S.A”**

“Nice to be in Paris (chuckles) (crowd cheers) nice to see you…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Johnny 99”**

“This is about the…- more mike -…gang wars in Southern New Jersey …”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Atlantic City”**

“Oh…when I was nineteen…I got my…my draft notice…it was 1969 …and, uh, Vietnam War was going on…at the time I don’t remember having any real political convictions about it, I just knew that, that I didn’t wanna die…and I didn’t go, but uh…but I was traveling through Arizona in the, about ten years after that, in the late ‘70s and I bought a book called “Born on the Fourth of July” (crowd cheers) by a Vietnam veteran named Ron Kovic…and, uh, it was his story about going and coming home to find out that his home wasn’t there any more…we went on to Los Angeles and I was staying in a little motel and there was a fellow sitting by the side of the pool in a wheelchair…and I had the book with me and he said “Man, I wrote that book”…this song is called “Shut out the lights” (crowd cheers) it’s about leaving home and…not being able to find your way back…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Shut Out the Light”**

“(After the sing-along) Très bien, très bien (crowd cheers) I got it, I can speak some French (chuckles) (crowd cheers) a little bit, alright (chuckles)…well, this is a song about…about growing old…yeah, man, I mean growing old…like I’m 35…anybody else 35 out there? (some cheers) not many (chuckles) now, the Big Man, he’s, uh… forty, forty, uh, uh, uh, uh, he’s, uh, he’s older than me (crowd cheers) but, but, but somehow he always, he always maintains his youthful beauty (crowd cheers) he’s handsome, handsome…him and his wife, they just had a little Big Man (crowd cheers) he’s handsome too (chuckles) yes he is (chuckles) this is a song about getting up there…and still getting down (chuckles) are you ready, boys?...are you ready, people? (crowd cheers) alright… (…) Keep on rocking now…don’t ever be stopping…’cause I can hear that big clock ticking away…every minute of my life, every day…it says “Boss…you’re 30…31…32…33…34…35…you’re…you’re…you’re …you’re…you’re…you’re…you’re all grown up now, man”…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Glory Days”**

“Alright…(crowd: “Bruce, Bruce, Bruce!”)(chuckles) are you talking to me? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “The Promised Land”**

“Thank you, merci (crowd cheers)…this is about…oh, I was living in California…for a while…and uh…I wrote this song, I guess I thought …I was thinking back on the town that I grew up in…and uh…I remember when I was about seventeen, man, I used to hate it there, couldn’t wait till I got out…you know, I thought I’d never miss it, never miss anybody that was back there…and, uh, I got a chance to travel when I was about nineteen, I got out on the road …and for a long time I never did miss, never did miss it…then I’d come back home when I got in my late twenties, I guess, I’d get in my car and I’d start driving down the old streets I grew up on…and looking up some of my old friends, see what their lives had turned out like…they were the ones who ended up…kind of sitting there with the place…and, uh, I guess realised that, uh, when I was a kid, I was afraid of belonging to something but no matter where you go or where you or what you become, that place you were raised always stays in your blood and you’re responsible for the shameful things and the glorious things that happen under your flag (crowd cheers) so this is, uh, du ma ville natale á votre ville natale (crowd cheers) this is from my hometown to your hometown, wishing you the best (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “My Hometown”**

“Oh, merci…le Grand Homme (chuckles)(crowd cheers) oh, the E Street Band…oh…well, we’re gonna take a little rest and then we’re gonna be right back to rock you all night long (crowd cheers) so we’ll see you in a little while, ok? (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, after “Thunder Road”**

“Sometimes I feel…I get feeling so lonely and I get so downhearted …and I can’t stand myself…and that’s when I wanna reach out…to somebody…somewhere…and say…”Hey, baby”…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, towards the end of “Dancing in the Dark”**

“(After the sing-along) Fantastique! (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Hungry Heart”**

“I remember growing up…at night…my dad would sit in the kitchen …with all the lights out…and he’d wait for me to come in…and he’d sit there and drink…and I’d stand in the driveway…I’d look in through the screen door…I could see the light of his cigarette…then I’d rush up on the porch and try to get by him…he’d always call me back…and it was like he was always…always angry, always mad… he’d be sitting there thinking about everything he wasn’t ever gonna have…until, until he’d get me thinking like that too…and I’d lay up in my bed…at night, I’d be staring at the ceiling…and feel like if something didn’t happen…if something didn’t happen that soon…I felt like I was just gonna…like someday…like I was just gonna…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “I’m on Fire”**

“Now you don’t have to call me “Monsieur” – just don’t call me “Boss”… (…) Ladies and gentlemen (crowd cheers) children of all ages (crowd cheers) and all you French people out there (crowd cheers) it’s now time to introduce the E Street Band (crowd cheers) to my left…on the piano...the smartest man in show business...you may be familiar with his study of the lost tribes of Hoboken or his theory of promiscuity…Professor Roy Bittan on the piano (crowd cheers) on the vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa (crowd cheers) on the drums, the Mighty Max Weinberg (crowd cheers) on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici (crowd cheers) on the bass, Mr. Garry W. Tallent (crowd cheers) on the guitar, Mr.Nils Lofgren (crowd cheers)…and last but not least (crowd cheers) you know who I’m talking about (crowd cheers) he’s known as the master of the world (crowd cheers) the king of the universe (crowd cheers) in this corner, weighing in at 265 pounds…the undefeated champion of the world (crowd cheers) gimme a C-L-A-R-E-N-C-E, what’s that spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) what’s that spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) what’s that spell? (crowd: “Clarence”) Big Man of the horn, Big Man, Clarence Clemons on the saxophone...”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, middle of “Rosalita”**

“Oh, I would like to take a moment and thank everyone for coming to the show here in Paris, thank you (crowd cheers) we appreciate it and, uh…I’d also like to thank you for your support of our band over the years when we haven’t gotten over here as much as we’d liked (crowd cheers) I want you to know we appreciate it…this, uh …this next song…last time, it was in 1981 when we played here… and I think we, we did this song for the first time but uh…what happened was, uh, in ’75 we were on tour in the United States, on the “Born to Run”-tour (crowd cheers) and…I guess I was about 26 years old, we were in Memphis, Tennesee…we played in a small auditorium and that night I called a cab driver and I got him to take me out to Elvis’ house (crowd cheers) and, uh, it was about 3.30 in the morning, I got out there, I got out of the cab and I stood outside the gates and I could see a light on in the second story window…and I jumped up over the wall and I ran up the driveway towards the house…and I…I got to the front door – I got, I think it’s a stupid thing to do now ‘cause I hate it when people do it at my house (chuckles) but (chuckles) but (chuckles) but I got up to the front door and I was filled with the enthusiasm of youth and as I was about to knock, a guard came out of the woods and asked me what I wanted and I said “Is Elvis home?”…and he said “No, no, Elvis is in Lake Tahoe” and I told him that I was a guitar player too and that I had a band and I told him that, that we played in town, I told him that I had my picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek (chuckles)(crowd cheers) I did (snickers) I had to pull that one out of the bag but that didn’t work, I don’t think he believed me and he took me by the arm and he put me back out onto the street where I belonged, I guess…but uh…I remember later when a friend of mine called me not too long after that and said Elvis had died, oh, it was hard to understand how somebody whose music had taken away so many people’s loneliness and who gave so many people a reason to live…could have died…seemly as lonely and as tragically as he did…anyway, I’d like to do this song for you tonight, wishing you all the longest life with the best of everything (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”**

“Tonight is the first year anniversary of this tour (crowd cheers) it started a year ago, it’s our 123rd show, ladies and gentlemen, the Boss has left sanity, come on (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Ramrod”**

“Alright…oh yeah…sounds good…feels good…down in my soul… Big man, how’s the Big Man feeling? (Clarence: “Très bien, très bien”) très bien, alright…how’s the band doing? (Max pounds the drums) alright...how’s sound guys tonight?...that’s good…well, how’s the people doing out there? (crowd cheers) that’s good because before I go, there’s one thing I gotta know…before I go, there’s one question I need an answer to…what I have to know is…what I need to know is…now what I need to know is (crowd cheers) what I came here to find out is (crowd cheers) what I came all the way here to know is (crowd cheers) what I have to know is (crowd cheers) what I, what I’ve got to know is (crowd cheers) is, is, is…Do you love me?... (…) I’m just a prisoner…of rock’n’roll! (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, middle of “Twist and Shout”**

“Thank you, we love you (crowd cheers) goodnight, thank you (crowd cheers) vous aime…the Big Man, E Street Band (crowd cheers)…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, after “Twist and Shout”**

“You’re gonna make us hurt you now (crowd cheers) oh, we didn’t wanna do it, come on…”
 * 29.06.85 Paris, France, intro to “Rockin’ All Over the World”**

//Compiled by Johanna Pirttijärvi//